A report published this month suggests that businesses are slowly regaining confidence after a difficult year. Steve Horton, president of the Southern Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Industry, agreed that the region's economic outlook had improved in the last month.
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"Some industries are still struggling, but on the whole, businesses are doing okay in the Highlands at the moment," Mr Horton said.
"It's easy to say things have been looking good, but you've got to remember there have been a lot of government incentives. At the moment, we're still waiting to see what happens. All businesses I've spoken to are saying yes, they are optimistic - but let's not count all our eggs just yet."
That careful optimism is increasing in the state, according to the October Sensis Business Index, a quarterly survey of metropolitan and regional small and medium enterprises.
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In NSW, more than 60 per cent of businesses are confident about the future (18.9 per cent are extremely confident, 42.1 per cent fairly confident). Business confidence has almost doubled in Sydney since September; 22 per cent of businesses are extremely confident about the next six months, up from 12 per cent last month. Only 17.9 per cent of businesses statewide are worried, while in Sydney the number of extremely worried businesses has halved from 11 per cent to 5 per cent.
Similar confidence is reported in Queensland, South Australia, and even Victoria, according to the Sensis report, but Tasmania and Western Australia have suffered a loss in confidence.
In the Southern Highlands, Mr Horton said, the services industry - accountants, financial advisers, loan brokers, insurance groups, and the like - were doing well, while retail was not too badly affected, either.
But restrictions have made trade hard for restaurants and hotels, Mr Horton said. Most leases are set up on square meterage. "If they've worked out they can put 50 people in there, but under COVID they can only have 15, you can just imagine that really downplays the amount of dollars they can make in any given week."
The Chamber and the community
Over the last six months, the Chamber has been active in helping Highlands businesses, Mr Horton said. Although it has been difficult to put on events, the Chamber has held online gatherings and meetings, as well as advertising its member businesses via social media each week.
Earlier this month, the Chamber in fact became the first group in the Highlands allowed to host 100 people, when Chris Lamont, NSW Small Business Commissioner, opened Small Business Month at the Mittagong RSL.
Mr Horton himself has been to Canberra three times to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, and Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business.
"People have forgotten that we never got over the bushfires here; COVID came on top of one of the worst bushfire events we've ever had in this area," Mr Horton said. "We were suffering from a drought; we were suffering from an economic downturn of 2 per cent; we were already in recession in this country, and on top of that, we got bushfires and then COVID. It's been a nightmare."
The Chamber is also working with the Wingecarribee Shire Council on initiatives soon to be announced, and has written a submission to Council's economic manifesto for the next decade, the Southern Highlands Destination Plan.
Mr Horton doubted, however, that pre-coronavirus life would resume soon. "The Chamber doesn't think we're going to see anything back to normal this side of Christmas 2021. We're certainly going to see lifted restrictions, but I just can't see everything being lifted; I just can't."
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Businesses, however, had adapted, as they had to the threat online businesses like Amazon posed. Some had gone online; some had discovered new ways to advertise.
"Business adapts, particularly small family-type businesses," Mr Horton said. "That's the way that we function. We have no choice. We've got to be adaptable."
The best way the public could support local businesses, Mr Horton said, was to buy locally.
"People need to be part of the community. It's alright to come down here because it's pristine and it's gorgeous - but people need to shop here. I don't mean just buying groceries or the odd gift; I'm talking about using our hairdressers, our doctors, our dentists, and all those things... You can get everything you need in the Southern Highlands."
His catch-cry, Mr Horton continued, was the need for everyone in the community to work together. "Whether you've got a business or you're working for a business, we've got to start supporting one another and working together to support the economy in the area. We need to work together to make sure that it stays the place we want it to be, but at the same time, that we've got a viable area to live in."